Similarly, during my recent visit to Puri I found that that Ganga water was being sold there too. There is demand for Ganga water. At the same time, I must tell you that we are not selling potable water. We are providing some service, which is attached to the sentiments of crores of people of India.
But we have seen how the post offices both in urban and rural areas are facing a tough time due to shortage of manpower…
We are always doing an assessment study on the required manpower in a particular post office or circle. The assessment is made on the basis of the workload. Similarly from time to time, we are also infusing new blood in our system to make the organisation more robust and effective. We have recently recruited around 5,000 personnel. We are going to employ a few hundreds in the postal department. In fact, it is a continuous process. Besides employment, we have to adopt right technology.
The same work can be done by lesser people if we adopt the right technology. We are emphasising on reengineering our work and not to be monotonous. We have to be accurate. At the same time we have to work in speed. Now we are planning to extend our services.
Even though you have a robust network, private couriers are rapidly emerging as a major threat to postal department…
The market scenario has rapidly changed in the last 20 years. The market for the mail system has been gradually squeezed following the development of modern technology including Whatsapp. Now e-parcel and e-commerce has gained momentum. We are planning to make it as the main revenue stream. In order to do that, we are trying to be more visible.
We are developing a website where all the products will be displayed. In all the metros, we are planning to set up parcel processing centres. There will be conveyor belt, data uploading centre and special nodal delivery system. Recently, we inducted 200 vehicles for our system. We are developing our network. Earlier, we used to heavily depend on the railway network. But now we use all the system and making optimal arrangement. There are still some areas we have to develop.
We are missing the red post offices boxes on the roadside.
That’s not the issue. There are red boxes but due to widening of roads, these have been shifted and relocated.
Is India Post is heading in the right direction.
Yes, Indian Postal system is in the right direction. So far it had been physical. Now we plan to convert it to digital. We are planning to expand our services to banking areas. We have already got the licence from the RBI. We are also doing well in the insurance sector.
What bank are you talking about?
This will be known as India Post Payment Bank to facilitate financial inclusion. We will be opening nearly 650 branches across India. We have already started two such branches at Raipur and Ranchi. Our aim is that through 650 payments bank, we can push financial inclusion in 1.55 lakh villages of our country. Our objective is to give every Indian access to efficient banking services. The branches are likely to be functional in all the 650 districts of the country by April-May next year and all the rural post offices will be connected to these branches. Even our minister has launched Darpan Scheme. This apart, we are going to set up 1.29lakh micro ATMs at our branches, out of it, 40,000 have already come up. Another 20,000 are in the process of roll out. By March 2018, we are hopeful to set up all.
Can you elaborate more on Darpan scheme.
A few days back, our minister launched the digital advancement of rural post office for a new India (Darpan). This is a larger IT modernisation project being undertaken by the department of posts with a project outlay of Rs 1400crore. With this we will improve the level of services being offered to rural customers across India. Its objective is to improve quality service, add value to services and achieve “financial inclusion” of un- banked rural population, while taking advantage of this opportunity to increase revenue traffic. With this silent revolution will be taking place across the India.
You are the second Odia to lead such a big institution in India. What’s your specific plan for the state?
We are an all-India Institution. Odisha postal system is a part of that. But as an Odia, I will be happy if the postal system effectively addresses the issues of each customer in a time-bound manner.
There is a demand from Odisha to come up with a post card on the Paika Rebellion, which is now being considered as the first freedom struggle.
We do have a philatelic committee. It prepares a calendar for each year and decides who are the great persons and great events on which the postal stamp can be issued. I am hopeful that the postal stamp on the Paika Bidroha will be released in 2018.
I am also eagerly waiting for that as an Odia. Besides, there is a proposal to bring a postal stamp on the Utkal University. Being an alumini of this great institution, I will be happy if a postal stamp on Utkal University is released. The university has played a great role in the education system of the state.
Source: TelegraphIndia
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